Machine for conveying and loading crops or merchandise.



No. 718,732. PATENTED' JAN. 20, 1903. v

v R. scoT'L. MACHINE-FOR CONVEYING AND LOADING CROPS OR MERCHANDISE.

- APPLICATION FILED IBB. 8, 19 02.

I0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-BEBE; 1.

THE Norms PETERS cm PHOTO-LIYHD-, WASHINGTON D. r.

'PATENTBD JAN. 20, 1903..

- R. SCOTT. MACHINE FOR CONVEYING AND LOADING CROPS 0R MERCHANDISE.

APPLICATION FILED TIE-B. 3. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

no menu.

Unman- STATES TEENT FFICE.

ROBERT SCOTT, OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

MACHINE FOR CONVEYING AND LOADING CROPS OR MERCHANDISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 718,732, dated January20, 1903.

Application filed February 8, 1902. Serial No. 93,200. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SCOTT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Conveying andLoading Crops or Merchandise; and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention is designed principally for use in sugar-cane fields, andit is intended to receive the sugar-cane as it is cut by the laborersand convey it to a carlocated near the machine.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple,inexpensive,portable,easily-operated labor-saving machine. I employ either two or four armspivoted at the center, capable of being moved in a horizontal planeabout their common pivot. Each pair of arms is rigidly connectedtogether at the center of the machine and braced, so as to be in linewith each other. When four arms are used, the pairs of arms are placedat right angles to each other. Each pair of arms is capable of beingmoved in a vertical plane, like a seesaw, independent of the other pair.The pivot is supported either by an adjustable tripod or other suitablearrangement upon the ground, and the machine, which is light, is carriedby hand from one position in the field to another when necessary, or themachine may be located on a car or wagon. Attached to the arms is atrack carrying a trolley that is capable of being moved in or out alongthe arm toward or from the pivot of the machine. The cane to be loadedis first cut and then laid upon slings placed upon the ground or on acradle. The ends of a loaded sling are then attached to the trolley bydepressing the arm of the machine brought over the sling. A man at theopposite arm then depresses his arm, thereby raising the sling loadedwith cane, which becomes suspended on the trolley of the arm oppositethe operator. The machine is then turned, if neces sary, and the slingis moved in or out on its trolley-track until it is over the car to beloaded. The cane is then dropped into the car, as will hereinafter morefully appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation ofone-half of a twosmaller scale, a plan of the arms of a fourarm machinewith the horizontal bob-stays. Fig. 3 shows, on a larger scale, theswinging joint of a four-arm machine. Fig. 4: represents, in elevationand part section, the joint at the center of the first pair of arms andthe pivot arrangement. Fig. 5 represents the method of connecting thepipes forming the arm.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the machine as a wholeis of light but strong construction.

The arm A, Fig. 1, is preferably made up of different sizes of pipe a aa telescoping each other. One of these joints is shown in Fig. 5. Asplit collar 10' is secured inside the pipe a, and is tapered inside toreceive the end of the pipe a While another split collar 20 fitting thepipe (1 is tapered outside to wedge the end of the pipe at. Collars b bare clamped at the joints and are provided with a boss to secure thestruts c 0 Fig. 1, to the overhead or vertical bob-stay d. Thelargest-size pipe at at the center of the ma chine is in one piece andis common to both arms A and B and has a hole through its center,through which the pivot f is free to 0perate. The trolley-track g g issecured to the arms at intervals, and a connecting-piece g may be usedto connect the tracks 9 and g together when desired to run the trolleyfrom one arm to its mate. It will be understood that it is necessarythat the pivot be located at a suitable height from the ground. As shownmore fully in Fig. l the pivot referred to consists of a continuation ofthe end of the pin f, which continuation passes through asupporting-hanger g said hanger being held in place by nuts screwed uponthe screw-threaded end of the continuation of the pin f. Thecontinuation of the pin f passes through an aperture in the hanger andpermits the hanger to swing horizontally to the extent permitted by thelegs of thetripod through which it passes. The connectingpiece 9 islikewise adapted to swing vertically or tilt upon the hanger g as acenter. At the outer ends of the connecting-piece g are attached thespring-stops 9 having at their upper ends the rounded portions g whichare adapted to catch under or engage with the under side of the pipe (1,so that the connecting-piece will rock with the arms A B and with thetracks 61 d. When the armsA B are moved in a horizontal plane, theconnecting-piece 9 will travel with them until it comes in contact withthe obstructing leg of the tripod, whereupon the spring-pieces 9 willrelease their hold upon the pipe at. The operator applies his weight toa stirrup h, which is adjustably suspended from a wheel j on the outerend of the arm, and he may use different lever-arms by shifting theposition of the wheelj by the use of the rope 70, passing through theblocks 7; k or he may operate it simply by a rope attached to the end ofthe arm, or, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the stirrup andits operating mechanism may be located upon the track instead of beinglocated upon the arm above it.

\Vhen four arms are used, the arms 0 and D, Fig. 2, are securelyfastened to castings Z 1*, (shown in Fig. 3,) which are bolted togetherover arms A and B and straddle the casting m at the center of themachine. \Vhile l and Z are bolted together tightly, they do not tightlygrip the pipe at of arms A and B, but permit the arms 0 and D to move ina vertical plane about the axis of the pipe a. The castings Z and Z maybe provided with roller-bearings and the pipe a provided withwearing-bushings. A boss is provided on Z and Z (shown at n and n inFig. 3,) each to carry a pipe-strut, these two struts being slightlylonger than the center strut 0', attached to m, in order that thevertical bob-stays may clear each other. Side bob-stays are shown inFig. 2, the inner ends being fastened to clips 7" r for arms A B and tothe castings Z l at 1) p 6150., for arms 0 and D, as shown in Fig. 3.

In order to bring the center of gravity of the machine below the pointof suspension, a casting m, Fig. 4, in the form of a cross is used. Thisfits snugly over pipe a, and has a cap q screwed into its upper branch.The strutpipe 0 is screwed into this cap and ahardened-steelcuprissecured underneath. The upper end of the steel pinfis rounded and hardened and fits the cup 9'. This pinfis tapered nearits lower end to fit the tripodhead. The lower branch of the cross m ispartly filled with metal, (shown in section, Fig. 4,) so as to leave anoblong opening for the pin f and allow the arms A and B to tip only in avertical plane. The hearing may be made dust-proof by employing a feltor other suitable washer, as shown in Fig. 4. This opening may beprovided with rollerbearings. A drum or winch arrangement may beattached to the tripod and a snatchblock attached to the arm in place ofthe trolley arrangement for lifting the loaded slings.

To facilitate operations, I preferably employ a detachable sling-asshown, for instance, in Fig. 1-which may be made in two parts which areeasily coupled or uncoupled. This sling is laid upon the ground or on acradle and the cane is piled upon it-say a hundred pounds for a load.After receiving the load it is placed over the hook g of the trolley,and by the operation of the machine already described the loaded slingis brought over the car to be loaded and the cane is discharged.

The arms in practice are each made about thirty feetlong. Two machinesmay be placed with pivots about sixty-one feet apart and connectedtogether by a short piece of pipe slipped into the pipes forming theouterends of one arm of each machine, and with a short rail connectingthe trolleys the load can be shifted from one machine to the other. Asindicated in Fig. 1", the lower end of the pin fmay screw into apipe-stand suitably anchored in place, so as to sustain the weight ofthe machine, in lieu of a tripod. Moreover, the lower or pointed ends ofthe tripod may serve as pistons to the upper portions thereof, and thecross-pipes a or b, or both, may constitute reservoirs of compressed airin Whole or in part, which air may be admitted into the hollow legs ofthe tripod simultaneously by means of the branch tube 00, (shown in Fig.1,) adapted to connect with the nipples shown upon the tripod-legs. Byadmitting compressed air into the legs of the tripod the upper part ofsaid tripod will be lifted to raise the beam to any desired height, andby permitting the air to escape from the tripod-legs the tripod will belowered correspondingly. By this means the beam carried by the tripodmay be adjusted to such heights as the operator may find necessary.

Aspring-catch'y (see Fig. 1) may be clamped upon the track at anydesired point, so as to permit the trolley to pass over it in onedirection, but which will not permit it to return until removed ordepressed for that purpose.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprisingoppositely-extending arms capable of being tilted vertically, androtated horizontally about a c0mmon central pivot, and a track supportedby said arms and adapted to support a trolley running lengthwise of saidarms; substantially as described.

2. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprisingoppositely-extending arms made of jointed pipe-sections supported on acentral pivot and capable of being tilted upon and rotated about saidpivot, and a track supported by said arms and adapted to support atrolley running lengthwise of said arms; substantially as described.

3. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprisingoppositely-extending arms capable of being tilted and rorated, and atrack suspended from said arms and carrying a trolley to which the loadis attached; substantially as described.

4. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprising abase or standard, oppositely-extending arms mounted on said standard andcapable of being tilted and rotated horizontally thereon, track-sectionscarried by the respective arms, and a tracksection carried by saidstandard to connect the sections on the arms; substantially asdescribed.

5. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprisingabase or standard, a beam formed of telescoping pipe-sections centrallypivoted upon said standard and capable of being tilted and rotatedhorizontally thereon, and a track connected by brackets to said beam toreceive and convey a load-supporting trolley from end to end of saidbeam.

6. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprisingabase or standard having a fulcrum or pivot-pin, a beam centrally pivotedupon said pin, track-sections, connected by brackets to the respectivearms of said beam, an intermediate track section secured to saidpivot-pin, and means for normally holding said intermediate section inalinement with the other track-sections.

7. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprising astandard, a fulcrum or pivot secured in the top thereof, a beamcentrally pivoted on said pin, depending track-sections secured to thearms of said beam on each side of the pivotal point, an intermediatetrack-section connected intermediate of its ends to said pin, andspring-stops secured to said intermediate section and engaging therespective beam-arms serving to hold the intermediate track-section inalinement with the beam track-section, substantially as described.

8. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprising astandard, a fulcrum or pivot-pin secured in the top thereof, a beamcent-rally pivoted on said pin, said beam comprising two arms formed oftelescoping pipe-sections, depending track-sections secured by bracketsto the respective beamarms, an intermediate track-section pivoted to abracket revoluble on said pivot-pin, and spring-stops secured to saidintermediate track-section and engaging the respective beam-arms servingto hold the intermediate track-section in alinement with the beamtrack-sections; substantially as described.

9. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprising astandard, a fulcrum or pivot-pin secured to the top thereof, a beamcentrally pivoted on said pin, said beam comprising two arms formed oftele-.

scoping pipe-sections, and an intermediate member by which the beam issupported on the pivot-pin to permit a rocking and rotary movement ofsaid beam, depending track-sections secured by brackets to therespective beam-arms, an intermediate tracksection connected to saidpivot-pin, and means for detachably securing said intermediatetracksection to the respective beam-arms to maintain the latter inalinement with the other track-sections, substantially as described.

10. A machine for conveying and loading crops and the like, comprising ahollow standard formed of telescoping sections,a beam centrally pivotedon said standard and capable of being tilted vertically and rotatedhorizontally on said standard, and means for adjusting said standardcomprising a source of fluid-pressure, connections between the pressuresource and said hollow standard to adcrops and the like, comprising ahollow standard formed of telescoping sections, a hollow beam containingfluid under pressure, said I beam being centrally pivoted on saidstandard and capable of being tilted vertically and rotated horizontallyon said standard, a tubular connection adapted to establishcommunication between said hollow beam and said hollow standard toelevate the latter by fluidpressure, and a valve in said standard torelieve the pressure in the latter to lower the same; substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed-my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT SCOTT.

Witnesses:

GEO. D. RUSSELL, BoBT. J. PRATT.

IIO

